Lockdown lifted at Cook County Jail

February 3, 2011

Cook County Jail is no longer on lockdown. Sheriff Tom Dart kept all 9,000 inmates in their cells during the blizzard, unless there was an emergency. He said several guards were not able to travel to the jail in the snow, but there were no major issues.

"We had problems that, once again, everyone else faced," Dart said. "We had power go out on us. We had our supermax division go without power, but we had a backup generator so that took care of that."

Cook County courts have been closed since Wednesday. Dart said he expects to see an influx of inmates when the courts re-open.